![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/files\/2011\/03\/Aradhna1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>Alexander Robinson Students and residents from the Jackson Metropolitan area gathered in the Student Center to hear the spiritual sounds of Aradhna, a musical quartet specializing in Hindi music.<\/p>\n The group was brought to Jackson State University by James Maddirala, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and JSU\u2019s Global Diversity Officer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are providing an opportunity for JSU to discover world cultures. This is one of the many concerts to come. The next concert will feature a Turkish Music Group,\u201d said Maddirala, Melmiah Walker, a senior accounting major from Memphis, Tenn., was at first doubtful of attending the concert, but his doubts dissipated as the sound of the sitar, a stringed Hindi instrument, filled the hall.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad I came, the music was real nice. It\u2019s a nice feeling,\u201d said Walker.<\/p>\n Layci Lewis, a senior accounting major from Jackson, Miss., enjoyed the diversity of the music.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was something different to experience; it\u2019s not every day that we get to hear things from other cultures, so I take advantage of it,\u201d said Lewis.<\/p>\n Steven Maben, a senior music performing arts major from Memphis, Tenn., had the opportunity to play with Aradhna, in the absence of the band\u2019s lead drummer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was probably one of the most stressful days of my life,\u201d said Maben, speaking on how he had six hours to learn 12 songs. \u201cBut it was all worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n Maben learned he would be playing with Aradhna from his professor.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so honored to be able to play with these guys. It\u2019s the most fun I\u2019ve had in a long time,\u201d said Maben.<\/p>\n Pete Hicks plays the acoustic guitar for Aradhna.<\/p>\n \u201cThis music has revolutionized how I think about life and how I think about God, I just love it,\u201d said Hicks.<\/p>\n Hicks explained the difference between Hindi music and Western culture.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Western culture is often very busy. Hindi music takes patience, and often time that\u2019s what we need,\u00a0 to slow down and focus before we find answers,\u201d said Hicks.<\/p>\n During\u00a0 the concert intermission, concert attendees had the opportunity to taste authentic Hindi food, purchase Hindi cloths and scarves and meet the band. Aradhna, working with JSU, provided a culturally enriching experience for all of those in attendance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alexander Robinson Staff Writer Students and residents from the Jackson Metropolitan area gathered in the Student Center to hear the spiritual sounds of Aradhna, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nStaff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n